Istanbul

[DoonTheSlope]

Heading over in June

Anyome recommend where to go for the best fakes? I’ve read about the Grand Bazar being good for good quality fake gear but anywhere else that anyone could recommend first hand. I’m just wondering what the rough price is in sterling for fake designer jeans and T-shirts etc and more importantly do they survive a wash 

Also is there any late night bars in the 3-4am category should I decide to throw myself off the wagon? Preferably somewhere showing the World Cup as I’m there for the Brazil game

 Cheers!

[Reidster78]

Grand Bazaar is probably your best shout. It's absolutely massive, with various streets under cover about a mile long, selling anything you can think of. 

[slasher]

Ooft! That’ll be plenty hot Slopey, best pack the factor 50!

There are bars and clubs off the top end of Taksim square but I wouldn’t know if any would be football oriented. Down the hill from the square there are some bars in a wee quadrant, I watched a run of the mill Celtic game in one of them, if I can find it online I’ll post again. There’s  also an avenue just down from the Blue Mosque which is all bars and restaurants you might get some joy there.

As Reidster says the Grand Bazaar is the place to be for quality fakes. There are a few bazaars but that is the biggest and best. If you fancy a walk on the wild side take the tram across the Bosporus to Fatih. You’ll struggle to find a bar outwith a big hotel but the cafes and restaurants are absolutely buzzing, it’s a great place to soak up proper local culture and people are very friendly. There’s also one of the largest street markets I’ve ever seen where you can buy just about anything! Istanbul is a fascinating city and one I’ll revisit in the future as I felt I’d barely scratched the surface of it!

[kumnio]

Plenty of pubs and restaurant/cafe type place in Kadikoy, look for the Loch Ness pub, but dont go in it, its a shit hole, however theres plenty of places within 500M which are good place to have a bevvy and watch sports.

Taksim area has plenty of bars which aren't bad, theres a place called Edinburgh Bar, which has screens for sports, I was in there for a Galatasary v Beisktas game and it was a bit lively. Theres a couple of Irish bars 5 minutes walk either side of the Edinburgh bar which were decent enough.

Taksim is more touristy than Kadikoy, Id head to Kadikoy

Personally, I wasn't that impressed with the Grand Bazaar, but it's better than the Taksim area for shopping. Head a few streets away to get non touristy shops, theres hundreds of wee shops specialising in just about anything you can think of. On google maps, anything south of the Beyazit tram stop down to the water, and west of that tram stop to the Ataturk main road, basically a big square area.

Even walking in the under passes at the Gelata Bridge are decent places for shopping.

[DoonTheSlope]

23 hours ago, slasher said:

Ooft! That’ll be plenty hot Slopey, best pack the factor 50!

There are bars and clubs off the top end of Taksim square but I wouldn’t know if any would be football oriented. Down the hill from the square there are some bars in a wee quadrant, I watched a run of the mill Celtic game in one of them, if I can find it online I’ll post again. There’s  also an avenue just down from the Blue Mosque which is all bars and restaurants you might get some joy there.

As Reidster says the Grand Bazaar is the place to be for quality fakes. There are a few bazaars but that is the biggest and best. If you fancy a walk on the wild side take the tram across the Bosporus to Fatih. You’ll struggle to find a bar outwith a big hotel but the cafes and restaurants are absolutely buzzing, it’s a great place to soak up proper local culture and people are very friendly. There’s also one of the largest street markets I’ve ever seen where you can buy just about anything! Istanbul is a fascinating city and one I’ll revisit in the future as I felt I’d barely scratched the surface of it!

I usually like to leave the hotel early morning to get my sightseeing done and dusted before the bigger crowds show up. If it is too hot I’ll be back in the hotel during peak sun hours for a recharge before heading out again at night